Terrified Caltrain passengers forced to jump out of way of train

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Terrified Caltrain passengers who were legally crossing the tracks were forced to jump out of the way of an oncoming express train to avoid disaster, leaving the commuter line scrambling for answers after one of the train operators tested positive for drug use.

No one was hurt in the Aug. 24 incident, which was disclosed to this newspaper for the first time Friday. Caltrain says the "very serious" near-accident was the first of its kind in the modern history of the popular commuter line and has led to major safety changes and left two engineers on leave.

Caltrain spokeswoman Jayme Ackemann said passengers were getting off a northbound train stopped at the South San Francisco station and walking across the southbound tracks to reach a parking lot at 8:25 a.m., during the busy commute period.

Suddenly, a two-story tall, one-million-pound express train that was not scheduled to stop at the station came hurtling down the southbound tracks at 76 mph. The engineer hit the emergency brake. That slowed the train, but it didn't stop until it had passed through the station.

"There were some passengers that needed to move quickly to get out of the way of the oncoming train," Ackemann said. "And I'm sure that there were some passengers, regardless of where they were, who witnessed this and were extremely frightened by the incident."

The station is old and, unlike most Caltrain stops, does not have a gate or crossing arms that come down to prevent passengers from crossing active tracks. Usually engineers radio each other or use headlight signals to ensure the station is clear before an express train zooms through, but that apparently didn't happen this time.

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Caltrain has launched an internal investigation and hasn't determined the cause of the incident. But the engineer operating the train stopped at the station has tested positive for marijuana use, Ackemann said.

She would not name the engineers of either train, calling it a personnel issue, but she described both operators as veterans. Both have been placed on leave, a standard protocol for such incidents. They could face discipline or be fired depending on the outcome of the investigation.

In response, Caltrain this month instituted new rules requiring engineers and dispatchers to communicate before entering the four stations like South San Francisco that do not have crossing arms to prevent passengers from entering live tracks. The other affected stations, like South San Francisco, are very lightly used: Atherton, Broadway in Burlingame and College Park in San Jose.

"We want to make sure that this kind of thing never ever happens again," said Ackemann, who added that conductors of the stopped train moved quickly to prevent more passengers from getting off once they saw the express train coming.

"Caltrain is an extremely safe system," she continued. "People should feel very confident that when they are in our care, we are doing everything we can to protect and preserve their safety."

Ackemann said officials disclosed the incident during last week's board meeting and to federal rail officials but had not reported it to the general public or media prior to confirming the details to this newspaper Friday. Caltrain typically publicizes fatalities on its tracks and other incidents that cause delays, but felt it wasn't necessary to advertise last month's near-accident because it did not disrupt operations and no one was injured, she said.

The agency has also apologized and reached out to the passengers who had to quickly get out of the way of the train. Though it's unclear how many were on the ground at the time, both trains were carrying close to the 600-passenger limit. Fewer than 200 riders, however, use the South San Francisco station on a typical weekday morning.

Caltrain in May switched from its long-time operator, Amtrak, to a new company, TASI, but most of the engineers were re-hired as part of the switch.

Safety has always been a key issue at Caltrain, where about a dozen people each year are killed by trains -- usually suicides -- between San Jose and San Francisco.

The agency has spent millions of dollars installing equipment and launching campaigns aimed at track safety, constantly reminding riders, pedestrians and drivers that trains can appear in an instant and that colliding with one almost always results in death.